The new focus of this blog is to document me writing and eventually recording a new album. I am attempting to write in a "style" but I don't know quite what it is. I am going for classic soul with my own unique stamp. Some artists I look after are referenced in the blog, let me know what ya think. No matter what it is it's gotta be "me", so that is the goal, hope you join me in the journey!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Big Release Show

ASB CD Release last night was so fun! Thanks so much for coming out. I really felt the love last night and I know it sounds hippie and what not but man, there is nothing wrong with feeling the love! Ha, man so many emotions last night. First, I feel like sometimes people try to put our music in a box, and that's normal for any band but specifically with what we try to do it can be misconstrued if one has never been to a show or really has not heard us. Of course being IN the band I only know what I am trying to do with the music and that can be very different with each member. I know that even Andy and I have different views on the band but I think for the most part we are trying to take an underlying feel of roots reggae and infuse it with something new, maybe add a beat that pays homage to reggae but maybe not exactly a strict one drop feel, or maybe we add a tribal tom beat to it. We want to advance reggae to a different level. If you listen to bands like RX Bandits and State Radio they really try to take reggae to a different level without being all "white boy stoner" about it. So that is the intention at least from my point of view. I respect what roots reggae artists do and I would never want to bastardize it, so I put my own spin on it and it is real and it can be very raw and emotional, if we can put all those things into a song than I think we are doing something right. Anyway, I'm kinda rambling but last night was really awesome. We ended up making shirts for the cd release that said "Andy Effing Shaw" paying homage to one of our good friends Heather Fullmer who affectionately came up with this "party call" at our shows, it has caught on and I had to make a shirt (thanks Matt Paetsch for the idea). Download the album here at andyshawband.bandcamp.com

The Columbus Duets Project went off really well too! I was a bit nervous at first when Caleb told me he had no voice but we pulled it off and it sounded good. By the second song with Joey Hebdo I really started feeling comfortable, the songs were able to breathe a bit too adding a little length to the mostly short songs on the album. Bree Frick did a great job and I felt really good about our song as well as the one Kerry and I did called "Smoke Song". I hope people enjoy the album and if you want a copy please go to TheColumbusDuetsProject.bandcamp.com and download it now! In closing, thanks everyone so much for the support! It is soo awesome!!!!

About Me

Hey I am Chris Shaw. I went to art school and I studied graphic design. I play drums, fiddle, guitar, and anything else I can get my hands on. I play in Andy Shaw Band, the Shaw Brothers, and many other artists. I write, record, sing, draw, dance, make t-shirts (Bootleg), eat lots of good food, and just try to enjoy my time while on this crazy planet.